• Recipe: Cheesy Broccoli Soup

    It is winter and we are having a snow day here in South Carolina so I have been thinking about warm weather meals such as soup.  I have been debating which one to make for our family but thought I could share them with you.  If you like veggies and cheese you’ll enjoy this soup.  You can add in other vegetables that you have on hand in your fridge.  The girls like Cheesy Broccoli Soup just as much as we do.  Glad both girls love eating veggies!

    Cheesy Broccoli Soup

    • 1 (16 ounce) package of Broccoli
    • 1 can Chicken Broth
    • 3 medium Potatoes (cut into 1/2 inch pieces)
    • 1/2 onion (chopped)
    • 1/2 tablespoon Butter
    • 1/2 package Velveta Cheese
    • 1/2 cup Milk
    • 1/2 teaspoon Chives
    • Pinch of Salt & Pepper
    • Shredded Cheddar Cheese (optional)

    Put butter and diced onions in the crock pot on high for about 30 minutes.  While that is cooking prepare the remaining ingredients.  Turn down the crock pot to low then add the cut potatoes, broth and broccoli to the crock pot.  Stir in the cut up pieces of the Velveta cheese, milk, and chives.  Cook on low for 6 hours, stirring occasionally.  Sprinkle shredded cheddar cheese to the top before serving!

  • Recipe: Snow Ball Ice Cream

    Vanilla Snow Ball Ice Cream!

    The girls woke us up at 6:30 this morning and announced that it had snowed outside.  We knew they would not be going to school because we received the phone call the night before letting us know that the school was closed.  It is bright and beautiful outside today.  I dug up another great Snow Ice Cream recipe that I enjoy.   This recipe uses milk instead of sweeten condensed milk like our Snow Ice Cream recipe.  We do not get a lot of snow in South Carolina so when it happens we have extra special treats.  We had over 6 inches already today and we have been having a blast playing in the snow.  I am not sure if the kids or the dog are more excited by the snow adventures!

    Snow Ball Ice Cream

    • 12 to 14 cups of Clean Snow
    • 1 package instant pudding (we usually do Vanilla or Chocolate depending on what’s in the pantry)
    • 1 1/2 teaspoon of Vanilla
    • 2 cups cold Milk
    • 1 cup Sugar

    Mix the pudding, sugar, and vanilla together.  Add the 12 to 14 cups of snow.  Stir until evenly mixed.  Top with chocolate syrup, sprinkles, or whatever your family enjoys.

    Today we did vanilla pudding because it is what we had in the pantry.  A couple added chocolate to their ice cream and of course everyone had to have sprinkles!

    *The picture above is prior to us adding sprinkles to the ice cream!

  • Family Recipe: Dad’s Favorite Carrot Cake

    My Mom is an excellent cook!  Over the years my parents have hosted a lot people in their home and continue to have people over regularly.  I am thankful for all Mom taught me about cooking and for her willingness to allow me to “experiment” in her kitchen as I was growing up.  Mom makes the best Homemade Carrot Cake!  She would make it for special events such as a Holiday or birthdays.  This is my Dad’s favorite cake.   It is rich, moist and delicious.  Here’s her recipe:

    Dad’s Favorite Carrot Cake

    • 2 cups of Sugar
    • 2 cups of Flour
    • 2 teaspoons of Baking Soda
    • 1 teaspoon of ground Cinnamon
    • 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
    • 1 1/4 cup Oil
    • 4 Eggs
    • 3 cups grated Carrots
    • 1 cup chopped Nuts (optional)

    Combine all ingredients.  Mix thoroughly and pour into a greased and floured 11 x 13 pan.  Bake at 350 for 40 to 55 minutes.  If you want a layered cake you can do it in two 8 or 9 inch round pans just reduce the bake time by ten minutes and add the Cream Cheese Frosting in between the layers. Cool, then frost.

    Cream Cheese Frosting

    • 1 stick Margarine (softened)
    • 1 lb Confectioner (aka powdered) Sugar
    • 8 oz Cream Cheese (softened)
    • 3 teaspoon Vanilla
    • 1 cup chopped Nuts (optional)

    Cream ingredients together until smooth and place on cooled carrot cake.   Optional you can add the nuts in with the frosting or sprinkle the chopped nuts over the top.  Optional you can add green and orange food coloring to a small amount of the frosting to create a decorative carrot(s) for the top for the cake.

  • Candy Cane Smile Pancakes!

    Now that our Christmas festivities are done with family and friends I am trying to come up ways to use some of the extra goodies.  Somehow throughout the various Holiday celebrations we accumulated a stack of candy canes and as we begin the first quarter of 2011 we are having fun finding ways to use up the remaining ones.  Instead of sprinkles on the girls pancakes we decided to have candy cane smiles.  They loved having minty pancakes for breakfast and the smiles added extra cheer for everyone, smiles really do spread cheer!  Do you have a creative recipe or way of finishing up the last few candy canes around your house?

  • Recipe: Snow Ice Cream

    We have lived in South Carolina for over 14 years and have never had it snow on Christmas Day so it was an extra special gift yesterday!  Today we have been busy building a snowman, making snow angels, throwing snow balls outside before the snow melts.  The girls and Skipper (our dog) have been enjoying it.  One of the things we always like to make when it snows is Snow Ice Cream.  Some years it doesn’t snow in SC so when it happens once or twice a year we love it!

    Snow Ice Cream

    • 8 to 10 cups of clean Snow
    • 1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk
    • 1 teaspoon Vanilla
    • (optional) 1/2 cup Chocolate Syrup
    • (optional) Sprinkles

    Put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix together.  When completely mixed serve immediately.  It melts pretty quickly.  In our family we have some that enjoy vanilla and others enjoy chocolate so we do a mix of both depending on the individuals preference.  Today some people chose vanilla with chocolate syrup and hugs & kisses sprinkles while others chose chocolate.  Enjoy!

  • Family Recipe: Chocolate Crackle Top Cookies

    I remember Mom making these cookies as a kid.  There are many variations to the Chocolate Crackle Top cookies but below is my Mom’s recipe.  I was hoping to make these during our Christmas Baking day to share with our neighbors, I am making them for another Holidays event with with family and friends.

    Chocolate Crackle Top Cookies

    • 7 ounces Bittersweet or Unsweetened Chocolate, chopped into small pieces
    • 7 tablespoons Unsalted Butter
    • 1/2 cup Sugar
    • 3 Eggs
    • 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
    • 1 3/4 cups All-Purpose Flour
    • 1/4 cup Cocoa Powder
    • Pinch of Salt
    • 1 1/2 cups Confectioners’ Sugar, for coating

    1.  Grease a large baking sheets.  In a saucepan melt chocolate and butter over low heat until smooth, stirring frequently.  Remove from heat and stir in sugar until dissolved.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Stir in vanilla.

    2.  Sift flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt into a bowl.  Gradually stir into the chocolate mixture in batches to make a soft dough.  Cover dough in the plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour, until the dough is firm enough to hold its shape.

    3.  Preheat oven to 325°  F.  Place the confectioners’ sugar in a bowl.  Form the dough into a small balls.

    4.  Drop the balls, one at a time into the confectioners’ sugar and roll until well coated.  Remove each ball with a slotted spoon and tap the spoon against the bowl to remove extra sugar.  Place the balls on the baking sheets about 1 1/2 apart.

    5.  Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes or until the top of  each feels slightly firm when touched.  Let set for 2 minutes.  Transfer to cooling racks and allow them to cool completely.

    Makes about 20 cookies.  I am looking forward to making these for the Holidays.  Hope the girls enjoy them as much as I did when I was a kid.

    Picture compliments of Allrecipes

  • Family Recipe: Simple Potluck Corn

    My husband had to make a side dish for a work event.  The main course was BBQ so we wanted to come up with something that would compliment the main dish.  The challenge was it couldn’t be something that required refrigeration or heating up right before the meal but had to make it four to five hours so they could eat it at lunch.  Several years ago my Mom shared a recipe for corn that cooked in a crockpot it was simple, easy and delicious.  Since Jake has a plug at his desk at work, I put together the corn recipe, stuck it in the crockpot and sent it with him to work.  He stirred it a few times throughout the morning and it was ready just in time for the potluck lunch.

    Potluck Corn Recipe

    • 32 ounces Frozen Corn
    • 8 ounces Cream Cheese
    • 1/2 stick Butter
    • 2 tablespoons Sugar
    • 6 tablespoons Water
    • Salt

    Cook on low in the crockpot for 4 hours.

    The Potluck Corn recipe was a hit.  Even though the crockpot went to work completely full it came home empty.  Glad it was enjoyed by the Jake’s co-workers.  It is always a joy to share with others.

  • Family Recipe: Great Grandma Albrecht’s Corn Bake

    I have so many wonderful memories of my Great Grandma Albrecht.  Thankful for the opportunity to learn from her.  She was beautiful, a great cook, crafty, and full of spunk.  At my bridal shower she brought her Corn Bake as one of her favorite recipes.  Even after age 90 she was still baking!  When she arrived with the Corn Bake and recipe in hand we were curious about the blue dots in it.  In her hurry to get ready and cook she accidentally put a box of blueberry muffin mix into the Corn Bake instead of the Corn Mix.  She waved her hand and just laughed.  It was interesting, but still tasted good.  This is just one of many memories of Great Grandma Albrecht that make me smile.

    Corn Bake

    • 1 small Onion (optional)
    • 1 small pepper (optional)
    • 1/2 cup of melted Butter
    • 1 can Whole Kernel Corn
    • 1 can Cream Corn
    • 1 (8 oz) box Corn Muffin Mix (or Blueberry Muffin Mix if you want to venture out a little more)
    • 3 Eggs
    • 1 cup Sour Cream
    • 1 cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese

    Saute onion and pepper in the butter.  Mix in corn, muffin mix, eggs, sour cream and cheese.  Put in a casserole dish and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

  • Recipe: Super Chocolate Cookies

    We made these delicious Super Chocolate Cookies during our Saturday Christmas Baking Day .  This recipe was from Favorite Brand Name: Cooking for Kids, Kids’ Party Food.  The recipe has a delightful mix of chocolate, peanut, raisins, and crunch.    Our girls enjoyed them for their taste and color.  I doubled the recipe and it was a huge batch, probably around 60 cookies.  Our family, friends and neighbors all got several of these cookies to enjoy.  The recipe below is for the regular amount if you want more like I did for sharing than just double it.

    Super Chocolate Cookies

    • 2 cups All-Purpose Flour
    • 1/3 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
    • 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
    • 1/2 teaspoon Salt
    • 1 1/3 cups packed Brown Sugar
    • 1/2 cup Butter, softened
    • 1/2 cup Shortening
    • 2 Eggs
    • 2 teaspoons Vanilla
    • 1 cup Candy Coated Chocolate Pieces (M&Ms)
    • 1 cup Raisins
    • 3/4 cup salted Peanuts, coarsely chopped (I did not chop the peanuts and it turned out well)

    1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl; set aside.

    2.  Beat brown sugar, butter, and shortening in large bowl turn on electric mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy.  Beat in eggs and vanilla until well blended.  Gradually add flour mixture, beating at low speed until blended.  Stir in candy pieces, raisins, and peanuts.

    3.  Drop dough by 1/4 cupfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets, spacing 3 inches apart.  Flatten slightly with fingertips.  Bake cookies 13 to 15 minutes or until almost set.  Cool 2 minutes on cookie sheets.  Transfer to wire racks.  Cool completely.

    Makes about 20 (4 inch) cookies.  Our cookies were slightly smaller and we made a double batch so we had closer to 60 cookies.

  • Family Recipe: Sugar Cookies

    Sugar Cookies are a great treat to make around the Holidays.  They are versatile in that they can be made into a variety of shapes and decorated a lot of different ways as well as they are the base for many of other wonderful cookies.  The kids enjoy them and always love helping decorating the sugar cookies with frosting, sprinkles, and more around this time of year.  Sometimes I will make up several batches of Sugar Cookies then freeze the dough so I can pull them out when I need it which helps speed up the process for several other recipes our family enjoys eating and sharing with others.

    Sugar Cookies

    • 1/3 cup Butter or Margarine
    • 1/3 cup Shortening
    • 3/4 cup Sugar
    • 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
    • 1 Egg
    • 1 teaspoon Vanilla
    • 2 cups All Purpose Flour

    1.  Beat butter and shortening on medium to high speed for 30 seconds.  Add sugar, baking powder, and a dash of salt.  Beat till combined, scraping the bowl so everything is well blended.  Beat in egg and vanilla.  Gradually add the flour into the mixture.

    2.  Cover and chill dough for 1 to 3 hours to make it easier to handle when making cookies or cutouts.

    3.  Lay down wax paper and lightly flour.  Roll the dough to 1/8 inch thickness.  Use a variety of cookie cutters to make the shapes you want.  Place on lightly greased cookie sheet.  Note: if you will not be frosting but want sprinkles on the cookies do it once the cookies are cut out and ready to be baked.  A lot of times I will do it once they are on the cookie sheet because it catches some of the extra sprinkles. Bake at 375° for 7 to 9 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are firm and light brown.  Cool on rack and decorate.

    Many times I just do steps 1 and 2 so I can use the Sugar Cookie batter base to make a variety of different cookies.  Whether you do sprinkles, frosted, swirls, cups, or whatever enjoy the quick and easy recipe that allows you to share many delicious treats with your family and friends.